CLSA in STAT: Boom times for California life sciences

California’s life science industry is already the largest in the nation, as measured by employment, NIH funding, and venture capital investments. And it’s growing fast; Companies in the state generate $130 billion in annual revenue and have 1,235 new drugs in the pipeline, according to a report issued to be issued later this morning by the California Life Sciences Association. “California has always been a state full of people who want to take risks,” Sara Radcliffe, chief executive of the trade group, told STAT West Coast editor Charles Piller. She said the Bay Area’s ecosystem of world-class universities and wealthy investors have spawned startups and made it a magnet for larger companies. “We have a friendly competition” with Boston’s life science hub, Radcliffe said.